Turbine.



' PATENTED JULY 28, 1908. A. G. TOMS.

TURBINE APPLICATION FILED MAY 2. 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 894,409. PATENTED JULY 28, 1908. A. C. TOMS.

TURBINE.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 2. 1908.

Z SHEETSSHEET 2.

SEES

WHM;

' followingis a specification,

" i the line ABE 0. mm, or SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

'TURB 1m:

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Application filed May' 2, 1908. Serial No. 430,602.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, Ann C. ToMs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, county of Spokane, and State of-Washington,

have invented certain new and useful.Ini

provemcnts in Turbine-Engines, ofwhich the reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to a turbine engine, and. particularly to that type'known'as elastic fluid turbines in which the fluid is continuously expanded and successively. presented to a greater area of the surface of the wheel upon which it impacts.

The invention has foran ob ect to provide" a novel and improved construction for introducing the elastic fluidthrough nozzle rings into con tact with the buckets or blades of'the turbinewhecl and disposing the delivery "end *of one nozzle opposite the receiving'end of another nozzle said receiving 'endbeing of greater area than the delivery end of the 0pposite nozzlc'so as to prevent interference with the velocity of the steam ora back pressure thereof which would not only diminish the ower obtained but cause a leakage of the ffuid at the sides of the wheel.

A further object of the invention is to pro-- vide a turbine with successive turbine wheels having buckets or vanesand intermediate feed rings each having passages of successively increasing area relative to the wheels which receive and deliver thereto by the (leflecting blades in said passages.

Another object of the invention is to p1 0- vi de'the final wheel of the series with an expansion chamber and free inlets to all of the buckets in the final wheel because at this time the steam ha's expanded to such a low pressure that the condensing action with the free passage ofthe steam through the wheel is most effective.

Other and further objects and advantages of the inventionv'ill be hereinafter fully set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended, claims.

In the drawing:-Figure 1 is an elevation with parts in section on line 1 1, Fig. Fig. 2 is a section through the nozzles upon 2, Fig 1; Fig. is a detail plan of the valve shifting connections; Fig. 4 is a sectional perspective of the inlctnozzle; Fig. 5 isa detail perspective of the deflecting ring and blades; Fig. 6 is a similar view of the turbine wheel and blades; Fig. -7 is a detail series of. deflecting bla Like numerals refer to like several views of the drawing.

The numeral 10. designates the casing parts in the which may be of any desired construction or configuration to accommodate the number of turbines to be disposed therein. This cas ing is provided at one end with a plate 11 carrying the shaft bearings 12 in which the shaft 13 is mounted, the opposite end thereof.

being supported by the endplate 14 of the casing having shaft bearings 1 5. The end plate 14 also supports the nozzle or inlet plate 16 containing the feed passage '17 leading from theinlet valve 18. A series of these nozzle valves are disposed about the circumference of the casing. The passage 17 may be of circular cross sectionat its upper portion, as shown in Fig, 4 and thence merging downwardly into the angular cross section at its discharge end 19 disposed adjacent the 7 first or primary turbine wheel 20. Cooperatin nozz eplate 21 avin deflecting blades and nozzles therein as hereinafter described. The wheel 20 may be formed in segmental sections secured tothe central disk 22 carried by the shaft by any desired means, such as the connecting flanges shown at 23, the flanges of adjiacent wheels being. ada ted to contact at t e inner side of the de ecting ring 21. At the op osite side of the deflecting ring 21 from t e wheel 20 is a second wheel 25 of similar construction and-cooperatingtherewith is a deflecting ring 26 having passages therefrom of successivelyincreasing area, while at the discharge from this ring a third wheel 27 is mounted. The wheel communicates with a reversing chamber 28 secured to a bulk head 29 which incloses the wheels and deflecting rings and is provided with a discharge 30 from the final wheel. The reversing chamber is provided with a series of blades 31 forming channels extend ing from the inlet 32 thereof to the discharge 33 and each end communicates with the wheel which delivers initially to the chamber thus causing a reversal of the fluid in its travel through the series of wheels and'rings.

The successive chambers 28 are increased in area to properly carry the expanded steam. Two are here shown in the circuit of blades and wheels, although any desired number may be used. The discharge through the port 30 enters the chamber 34 provided with at its periphery a es and passages 36,

an abutment 35 having with the opposite side of this wheel is a which blades deliverto the fourth or final Wheel'37, and thedischarge therefrom enters the exhaust or condensing chamber 38.

Each of the turbine wheels is constructed as shownin Figs. 6 and 7, of the posite side plates 39 which are'provided wit apertures of the wheel to be built up and they blades or vanes thereof formed of drop forged steel with their ends riveted into the grooves of the The deflecting rings, such as21 and 26,

may be formed in any desired manner, for

instance, by means of the segmental blades 44 of drop forged steel, having the rims 45 cast thereon, as shown in Fig. 5. These rims are provided with the projecting rib 46 which is.

disposed in overlappingrelation to the flange 47 of the wheel rirn's and'by which the 'defleeting ringis rigidly secured in position by any desired'means frcmthe casing, for instance the' bolts 48 extend'ing therethrough.

The flanges 47 of the wheels are suitably apertured and adapted to receive the bolts 49 by which they are secured to th'ehub sections such as 22. Y Inorder to form a steam tight connection at the inner periphery of these wheels and" effect the balancing thereof they are mounted upon the shaft 13 by a hub 50 keyed thereon at 51 and secured to the third wheel of the series at 52. This, hub is provided with a shoulder 53 against which the hub plate 54 of the second wheel abuts, while the blade 22 rests in contact with the hub 55 of the plate 54, and is secured by any suitable means such as the bolt 56 extending through-the hub plates 22 and 54 and into the shoulder 53 of the hub 50. Beneath the hub plate 52 the abutment 29 is disposed and carries the reversing chambers 28, before described, these parts being secured in position by the bolt 57 through the casing and supported upon a shoulder 58 on the inner face thereof. At each end of the hub a packing ring 59 is dis posed and a lubricating pipe 60 extends thereto from a suitable source of supply.

The abutment 35 provided with the de fleeting passage 36 is secured by a bolt 61 and provided with a channel 62 in which the flange 63 from the hub 64 of the wheel 37 is adapted to travel, said hub being also provided with packing rings 65 and lubricating tubes 66 leading thereto. The wheel 37- is provided with the inner flanges, as before described, and an outer flange 68 adapted to travel in the channel in the casing so as to prevent escape of steam about the periphery of this wheel.

By reference to Fig. 2 the construction and relative arrangement ofthe feed passages and buckets of the wheel'will be seen. By" this arrangement each of the deflecting rings is provided with a series of deflecting blades and passages of successively increasing area, those upon one deflecting ring being disposed opposite to passages of different area uponthe adjacent ring, that is, softhat'the discharge from a smaller passage will be through a wheelv andiinto a ring of larger. capacity. In the form shown in Fig. .2,"the feed from the nozzle 17 is through the first wheel 20, thence through the deflecting passage of ring 21 to the wheel 25, and-is delivered therefrom to a deflecting passage of greater area in ring'26 which in turn discharges into the third wheel '27. The par- 1' tially expanded fluid-now passes through the reversing chamber 29, thence again through the third wheel and throughthe deflecting passage of the ring 26 which discharge intothe Wheel 25, and the flow therefrom disring 21 .of greater area than the opposite passage in'ring 26'thus acting upon an increased area of. the wheel'2Q. Thedischarge from the latter wheelpasses through the secondreversing than the rst and begins its-final passage through the first wheel, thence through the: deflecting blades of the ringf21 which are of greater area than the preceding passages through said ring and discharges into the wheel 25. From this wheel the discharge passes'to the deflecting blades of the ring 26' which are larger than the preceding passages in that ring, and the final discharge'is to the wheel 27 oppositethe port30 in the abutment 29. 'lhe steam then passes from the expansion chamber 34 through the ports 36 to the final wheel 27 from which it is dis-- charged into the vacuum or condensing chamber 28.

1 Various forms of overningmechanism may be used for regu ating the opening of this valve governed by the speed of rotation .charges through the deflecting-passage in the assage' which is of greater area a of the wheels and the shaft carried thereby.

One' form of such mechanism is claimed in my application filed January 24th 1908, Serial No. 412,451 and is here generally shown in operative position. This coniprises a bar 70 having an inclined upper surface adapted tobear against the friction wheel 71 carried bythe upper end of the valve stem 67, this bar being provided-at its free end with shoulders 72 and 73 disposed in opposite directions as shown in Fig. 3-. 'ihis bar when once adjusted to the engine running at predetermined speed is not actuated, but for the purposeof actuating under a change of speed, an oscillating catcher arm 74 is pivotally' mounted at 75 the stud. 81 carried upon the bracket 82; from '86 which is connectedby rodv 87 with t bell crank lever 88 pivotally mounted at 89 in the arm 90 in the valve case and provided with'p'in 91 disposedin slot 92 of the catcher arm by which it may be laterally oscillated -to bring either the bifurcated portion-93 or 94 thereof into contact with either the shoulder 72 or 73 and move the valve rod either toward or from the main .shaft. and spondingly shift-the valve.

, impedance of the'velocity of the steam which corre- The operation of the invention will be seen from the foregoin description, and it is obvious that the w eels may he disposedin any desired place corresponding to the desired position of the shaft, that is, either in a vertical or horizontal position and the num: ber of vanes to be covered in area by any one of the passa esor nozzles may be varied as found expedient, it being essential that they 3 a simple, efficient and economical y conincreasesuccessively in area with the expan sion of the steam S0 as-to afford the necessary impacting surface for that action and that a greater area of buckets be provided on the secondary wheel than those upon' the primary wheel. The'number of nozzles in each series may also be varied as found desirable,- and the number of wheels us'edmay correspondingly be varied. It will be observed that in each instance the area of the passage or nozzle delivering to the wheel is less than the receiving portion' of the succeeding assage at the opposite side of the wheel w iich is essential to obviate the back pressure and decreases the speed and diminishes the power to be secured besides producing leakage from. the wheels.

It will be seen that the area of the deflecting blades in the first ring correspond with the number ofvanes in thefirst wheel, and those deflecting blades introduce the steam into the second wheel where a greater area of vanes is exposed than was used'in the first wheel.

series of said blades and its discharge is to an increased area upon the third wheel. The steam then passes through the reversing chamber back through the series of blades and vanes as before described and is a second time reversed for its final passage through v the largest area of all of the wheels and de flecting blades of the rings. The construc tion for mountin the wheels and rims permits them to be tted so thatthe feed pres- After passing from the second vwheel the deflecting blades. of the second ring have a still larger area than the first,

sure cannot enter between the wheels as the pressure would be equal against the first wheel to that against the third wheel and between the head of the engine. and the bulkhead all-three wheels are brought to a 7( between the engine. head and casing orthe first wheel would be of the same pressure as the steam between the third wheel and the bulkhead. There is also a bulkhead disleakage of steam about the outer ends of the vanes. It will be seen that the fixed .discharge from the number of vanes upon the first wheel approximately equals in area that 1 maintains a perfect balance, and the steam posed above the fourth" wheel to prevent so of the first vane upon the secondary wheel s5 with which the steam impacts. All of the vanes in the final wheel are simultaneously acted upon by the steam from the expansion chamber as at this period the pressure is so low that more benefit is, received from the condensing action at the delivery side of this Wheel than by the direct im act of the steam thereon. The invention t erefore resents structed form of engine in which the expansion of the elastic fluid is utilized to the fullest extent and without impedance of its flow and velocity in its passage therethrough thus producing the maximum of speed and power with relation to the initial pressure.

Having described my invention and set forth, its merits, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1 In a turbine engine, an inclosing casing,

a'plurality of turbine wheels therein, feeding rings intermediate of said wheels and each having deflecting blades in a plurality of series of increasing area and reversing meanscommunicating with the final wheel opposite .one of the series of blades feeding thereto.

2. In a turbine engine, an inclosingcasing, a plurality of turbine wheels therein, feeding rings intermediate of said wheels and each having deflecting blades in series of increasing area, and a reversing chamber u on said casmg'communicating with the fine turbine wheel.

3. In a turbine engine, an inclosing casing, a plurality of turbine wheels therein, feeding rings intermediate of said wheels and each having deflecting blades in series of increas ing area, a reversing chamber u on said casing communicating with the fina turbine wheel, and a reversing chamber-on the opposite side of said casing communicating with the primary turbine Wheel.

4. In a turbine engine, an inclosing casing, apluralityl of turbine wheels'therein, feeding rings intermediate of said wheels and each having deflecting'blades in series of increasing area, a reversing chamber u on said casmg commumcating with the al turbine wheel, a reversing chamber on the opposite side of said casing communicating with the primary turbine wheel, an expansion chamber a'ving a p'ort comrnunicatlng with said final wheel, a continuous serles of nozzles discharging from said chamber, and a" turbine wheel-cooperating with said nozzles.

5. In a turbine engine, a plurality of turbine wheels, feed rings adjacent thereto having' passages of successively increasing area whereby a larger area is exposed upon each succeeding wheel, and reversing passages at opposite sides of said wheels to effect a re:

versal of the direction offlow therethrough.

6. In a turbine engine, a casing, a plurality of turbine wheels therein, an interposed feed ring having a series of feed passages therein of successively increasing capacity, a secondary feed ring having a series of assages of successively increasing capacity disposed in alinement with the passages of the. primary ring and of dilferent area therefrom and a revers-" ingpassa e communicating with the final turbine w eel '7. In a turbine engine, a casing, a plurality of turbine wheels therein, an interposed feed ring having a series of feed passages therein of successively increasing-capacity, a secondary feed ring having passages of successively increasing capacity disposed in alinement with .the passages of the primary ring and of greater area than said primary passages and a reversing passa e communicating with the final turbine wheel.

8'. In a turbine engine, a casing, aplurality of turbine wheels therein, an interposed feed ring having a seriesof feed passages therein of successively increasing capacity, a secondary feed ring having passages of successively increasing capacity disposed in alinement with the passages of the primary ring'and of greater area'than s'aidprimary passages, reversing passages communicating with theprimary and final turbine wheels, an expansion chamber communicating with the discharge from said wheels, a continuous series of nozzles communicating with said chamber, and a turbine wheel disposed at the discharge of said nozzles.

'9. In a' turbine engine, a casing, a plurality of turbine wheels therein, an interposed feed ring having a series of feed passages therein of successively increasing capacity, -a secondary feed ring having passages of successively increasing capacity disposed in alinementwith the passages of the primary ring and of greater area than said primary passages, reversing passages communicating with the primary and-final turbine wheels, an eX- pansion chamber communicating with the and overlapping discharge from said wheels, a continuous series of nozzles communicating with said chamber, a turbine wheel disposed at the discharge of said nozzles, and a condensing chamber at the delivery from said last mene' tioned wheel.

' 10. In a turbine engine, a casin a turbine wheel therein, and a'circular fee nozzle for said wheel provided with a passage having an angular discharge portion disposed 'at substantially a right .angle to the curved inlet portion thereof.

11. In a turbine engine, a casing, a shafttherein, a turbine wheel provided with an elongated hub having'a shoulder and secured to said shaft, and a secondary turbine wheel provided with a hub mounted upon the hub shoulder of the first mentioned wheel.

12. In a turbine engine, a casing, ashaft therein, a turbine wheel'providedwith an elongated hub having a shoulder-and secured to said shaft, a secondary turbine wheel rovided with a hub mounted upon the ub shoulder of the first mentioned wheel, and a feed ring disposed intermediate of' said wheels and supported from the casing.

13. In a turbine engine, a casing, a shaft therein, a turbine wheel providedwith an elongated hub securedto said shaft, a secondary turbine wheel provided with a hub mounted upon that of theffirst mentioned.

wheel, a feed ring disposed intermediate of said wheels and supported from the casing,

anges carried by said having laterally disposed flanges at its 0 posite sides and secured'adj acent to said w eel,

and overlapping lateral flan es carried 'by' said wheel opposite those of t e ring.

16. In a turbine engine, a' casing, a feed nozzle thereto, and a turbine wheel comprising side walls having securing flanges and an.

intermediate apertured inset portion, and

curved vanes having end projections to enter the apertures in'said portionsand to be secured within the inset portions.

In testimony whereofI aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ABE C. TOMS. Witnesses:

W. J. O. WAKEFIELD, E. STANDLEY. 

